title: The effects of unripe grape extract on systemic blood pressure, nitric oxide production, and response to angiotensin II administration.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hypertension is the most common disease in the world. In Iranian folk medicine, unripe grape juice has been used as antihypertention remedy, but no data is documented for this popular belief. This study was designed to determine the effect of unripe grape extract (UGE) on blood pressure and the response to angiotensin II in rat.
  
  
  METHODS
  Unripe grape was collected, air dried, and extracted and concentrated. Four groups of Wistar rats received single doses of 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg of UGE or saline, respectively. The direct blood pressure and the serum nitrite level were measured one hour post UGE administration. The animals also were subjected to the infusion of various angiotensin II concentrations (100, 300, and 1000 μg/kg/min), and blood pressure was determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean arterial, systolic, and diastolic pressures (MAP, SP, and DP) in all UGE treated groups were less than the control group, but only at the dose of 125 mg/kg (Group 1) they were significantly different (P < 0.05). The level of nitrite in groups 1-3 were significantly greater than the control group (P < 0.05). No significant differences were detected for the MAP, SP, and DP to different concentrations of angiotensin II among these groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  UGE potentially attenuate MAP, SP, and DP via vasodilatation induced by nitric oxide production.
authors.affiliation: Water and Electrolytes Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Department of Physiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran ; Kidney Diseases Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nematbakhsh
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zolfaghari
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Eshraghi
authors.forename: Tahereh
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Safari
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pezeshki
authors.forename: Seyyed Mohammad-Ali
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sorooshzadeh
keywords: Angiotensin II; VitisVinifera; blood pressure; nitric oxide; unripe grape extract